Describe the consequences of the "double bind" of conflicting social-role demands that can make it difficult for women to be successful as leaders

What will be an ideal response?

Answer: Research has identified two forms of prejudice against women as leaders. First, women who act in a manner consistent with their gender role (in a communal, warm, sensitive fashion) are seen as having low leadership potential; second, women who do become leaders and act in an agentic, forceful manner are castigated for not "acting like a woman should" (particularly when it is men doing the evaluating). Thus, in terms of acting in a dominant, assertive fashion, women may be "damned if they do and damned if they don't." This double bind may account for the relatively low numbers of women in top leadership positions despite the growing numbers of women with college degrees and long years in the labor force. Fortunately, there is evidence that prejudice towards women leaders may be decreasing over time. The increased likelihood that women will be called in to lead during crisis situations also sets up a glass cliff for women, whereby they are more likely to fail as leaders. Leaders who are put in charge of crisis situations are more likely to fail than other leaders, and if women are disproportionately put into such positions, this creates an unfair cost to women who do manage to break through the glass ceiling.